Page Update

The Books page (see link under the site heading) is now up! For now it's all grown-up books, but in the future I'll add a list of Linus and Veda's favorite books. I've also got content on the Recipes, Baby & Toddler Food, and Family Food pages. Next up I'll be working on the Household Management page.

Please let me know if there are any topics you'd like me to address. I aim to be useful!

Food Inventory

Everyone who's ever read a parenting book knows that it's good to offer kids choices because it makes them feel empowered and yada, yada, yada. Thanks to poor planning on my part, snack and lunch choices dwindled down to a critical level this week

Me: "Do you want... uh... these three crackers and some of this orange I was eating... or... um... hey, I think there's a banana in the bottom of the fruit bowl... maybe?"

To avoid any (more) middle-of-the-week shortages, I've created a food inventory to aid with making the weekly grocery list. This is the go-to stuff that my kids eat day in and day out. It's going to become a fixture in my household management binder. If you don't have a binder, my next choice would be to laminate it and stick it on the fridge.

Pantry Foods
Peanut Butter Crackers
O Cereal
Whole Grain Crackers
Graham Crackers or Animal Crackers
Peanut Butter
Raisins
Bananas
Sweet Potatoes
Infant Cereal
Snapea Crisps
Whole Wheat Bread
Fridge Foods
Hummus
Kiwi
Pears
Avocados
Almond Milk
Applesauce

Freezer Foods
Vegetable Pancakes
Spinach Patties
Peas
Mixed Vegetables
Mini Lentil Loaves
Baked Beans
Brown Rice With Diced Vegetables (an Annabel Karmel recipe)
Blueberry Flax Cereal Mix-In
Peach Cereal Mix-In

How's This Gonna Work, EBook?

I read The Little Engine That Could a lot these days. Both of the kids love it, but it's little Veda who toddles over to me and deposits it in my lap. If I told you how many times a day she does this, there's a good chance you wouldn't believe me. Every time through I do the same character voices, the same sound effects, the same wiggles and jiggles. And every time Veda does the same enchanting grin in the same places.

I bet we could still do that with the ebook version.

Yet, for as many times as I've read that book to her, she's "read" it to herself far more. What do you say to that, ebook? Looking at books independently has been a favorite activity for a loooong time around here, and it started well before I would have trusted either of them with an expensive electronic device. (Truth be told, I still wouldn't let them handle an expensive electronic device.)

And what about all of the touch-and-feel books, the lift-the-flap books, the scratch-and-sniff books? What will the e-answer to those literary novelties be?





I heard a few days ago that Amazon now sells more ebooks than traditional books. It made me feel a bit like a dinosaur since I seem to be the only book lover in all the land who doesn't have an e-reader, and I'll probably start getting myself psyched up to make the switch. What about baby books, though? It's not that I think there won't be an answer, but I just can't imagine what it might be.

Does anybody else think about this?

Snapshots of Cute Stuff 4/1/11

Okay, there's not picture of this, but I think it's super cute. Last night the little guys were getting into a fight over a toy. I intervened and said, "We have to share." Then I sang and signed one of our favorite songs about manners from Signing Time. When I went back to washing dishes, Linus started walking some laps between the kitchen and dining room, which is everybody's favorite activity these days, but he was making a sound I hadn't heard from him before. He must have repeated it for five minutes. Then it came to me... he's saying SHARE!

Veda's new word (well, phrase) may well put the babies in the running for Most Well-Mannered Babies Ever. When she's hanging out in her crib, handing me a toy, flipping through a book, looking out the window of the car, she says... Thank you. Okay, so she clearly doesn't know what it means, and I doubt that Linus knows what share means, but I'm so glad they've picked these to be their favorite words, as opposed to... um, other choices.

Now back to signing. The last few weeks have been a sign language explosion in our house. They're doing several signs now, but their favorites by far are dog, bubbles, and bird. When I took them to the zoo this past week, we stopped in front of some monkeys. I signed for monkey and pointed, and Veda signed for bird. Me: "Silly, those aren't birds. Those are monkeys!" Veda: "Bird!" And then I realized that there were birds chirping. Smart one, that girl.

Okay, enough of the mushy mom anecdotes. Here are a few snapshots of cute stuff:

Veda is into the piano. Really into the piano. This pleases me. Here she's playing some Beatles.

I found him this way one morning, snout glued to the glass, eyes wide with a dream of running wild across the plain. (It's their bouncy pony. This cracked me up a for a good five minutes. No, I don't get out much.)

Here's Mr. Linus, still in his pajamas on one of the many sick days we've been having lately. While I was talking to my mother on the phone, I thought the babies were being especially quiet playing under the table. Yeah, they were quiet because they had pulled the takeout container of rice off of the table. This is a real marker of your children getting taller.

 

At the zoo. Flamingos in the background and the kids distracted by person #352 to approach me on that particular day to ask me about the stroller. It was weird.

The unsung benefit of disposable diapers: the box. Yes, that's a dog leash attached to the front. Makes for easy box pulling for Mommy.

We've stopped being compliant with wearing bibs. I've decided the bib battle is one not worth fighting, especially since I doubt I could win it, so we now eat in the buff.

By the way, that's a mini lentil loaf, which they loved. I'm working on a recipe, naturally.

Man, are these kids skinny. Here's almost-fifteen-months-old Veda sporting a very droopy pair of 12 month pants. I really do feed them.

This has been Snapshots of Cute Stuff.

Green Cleaning Products

Reading Superbaby by Dr. Jenn Berman made me want to switch out the conventional cleaning products I use for more environmentally-friendly products. Bottom line: cleaning products leave behind residues on surfaces... surfaces that come in direct contact with our babies and their little mouth-stuffing hands. Have you ever inhaled any of that stuff? Of course you have. It's hard not to. If it makes my lungs feel yucky and gives me a headache, I can only imagine the effect it has on my little ones.

My problem with the green products? The smell. They smell... um, organic, if you know what I mean. Any personal favorites that smell pleasant?

And, yes, I know I could be making my own out of vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, etc. That's over my line. If it's within your line, I commend you, but can. not. do. it.

Infant Cereal Mix-Ins: Cozy Peach

Nutrition guides recommend feeding fortified infant cereal well into toddlerhood, but for the toddler foodie whose palette has expanded beyond baby mush, cereal can seemboring . Solution: cereal mix-ins. My cereal mix-ins are simple additions to jazz up your little one's cereal that can be stored in your freezer and/or use pantry staples you almost surely already have on hand. Idea #1: Cozy Peach Cereal Mix-In.

You'll need:

2 Bags frozen peaches
1/4 c water
Ice cube trays
Vanilla extract
Milk or non-dairy milk (I use almond)
Infant Cereal (We do best with oatmeal)

The Do-Ahead Part:
Boil the peaches and water for about fifteen minutes, or until peaches have softened. Mash with a potato masher and spoon into ice cube trays (makes about 14 cubes). When the peaches have frozen, pop them out of the trays, and store the cubes in a freezer bag.

At Breakfast:
1. Place one peach cube per child into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds, or until peaches can be broken up and stirred.
2. Add an appropriate amount of infant cereal (We use about 1/3 c per child).
3. Stir in enough milk to achieve desired consistency.
4. Add a couple of drops of vanilla extract.
5. Microwave for approximately 45 seconds, or until cereal is pleasantly warm.

Mmmm. Don't cooked peaches always make you think of cobbler?

April Challenge

I'm a planner. Hoo boy, am I a planner. It's a great quality to have in so many aspects of life, but when it comes to living in the moment, not so much.

With the move back home at the end of the summer starting to seem more real thanks to the warmer weather, I'm starting to get some big time planning itchies. Going for a walk around our neighborhood here has my head swimming with ideas about fencing in the backyard, making changes to the landscaping, rearranging the furniture. A trip to the Biopark has me thinking about how I can do a home recreation of a vertical succulent garden. Advertisements for children's activities here have me wondering how to find something similar back home.

All of this probably makes me sound eager to leave, and it's true that I'm looking forward to being closer to family, to seeing all of the friends I miss, and to not dealing with apartment-ness anymore. But I love it here! The weather is fantastic, the landscape is beyond beautiful, and activities for families abound. This month I'm going to focus on enjoying where I am right now.

My mantra: Be here now.

It isn't just a locale-type "here" that I mean, either. I want to be more present with my children - exactly as they are at exactly the age they are. It's fun to think about the vacations we'll take together as they grow, the things I'll teach them, the fun we'll have together. But you know what? Today is pretty great, too, and it deserves 99% of my attention.


Now about the diet transition for those who are curious - it's going really, really well. I ate some chile rellanos with cheese, and I've done some baking with eggs, but the babies and I are almost entirely there. With regard to the diet, this month I'm going to work on coming up with a list of meal staples. That seems to be the next key to being successful. I still don't miss meat, and thanks to Daiya, I'm cool with no cheese. Easy peesy.